Pharoahe Monch - Internal Affairs - 2x LP Colored Vinyl

2023 reissue on tangerine/yellow vinyl - Now available for the first time on vinyl since its original release in 1999 on Rawkus Records, Trescadecaphobia brings you the CLASSIC LP from Pharoahe Monch "Internal Affairs." Featuring production from DJ Scratch, Diamond D, and The Alchemist with verses from Canibus, M.O.P., Busta Rhymes, Common, and Talib Kweli.

After three cultishly revered albums with Organized Konfusion, underground legend Pharoahe Monch cut a solo deal with Rawkus and delivered his debut, Internal Affairs, in late 1999. Both Monch and Rawkus seemed to want to push their music farther above ground, and some longtime followers were shocked to hear a harder, angrier, more profane Monch, who seemed to be courting a more thugged-out audience. But it's a reinvention that doesn't compromise his high lyrical standards, making Internal Affairs a success on its own terms. Sounding like it was sampled from a monster-movie soundtrack, the club smash "Simon Says" sets the tone for the album; Monch delivers rapid-fire, intricately rhymed lines in between shouts of "get the f*ck up!" and "girls, rub on your titties!" It proved to be the most successful crossover bid of Monch's career, and much of the rest of Internal Affairs manages to straddle the underground/mainstream divide surprisingly well. Even when he's just giving shout-outs to Queens, or enlisting guests like Canibus and M.O.P. to help pummel a track into submission, Monch lives up to his reputation as one of hip-hop's most technically skilled MCs.